The use of a flashlight for illumination is frequently accompanied by a need to hold or otherwise fix or immobilize an item such as a document in need of illumination. A person faced with such a need may be forced to hold the document to be illuminated in one hand while holding the flashlight to be used for illumination in the other. Under some circumstances a flashlight user may need to both hold or immobilize the document to be illuminated while keeping at least one hand free for another purpose. In these instances the flashlight user may precariously support either the flashlight or object to be illuminated between the chin and breastbone, hold one or the other under the arm, or even support the flashlight within the teeth or mouth. Even for individuals who have achieved proficiency in these alternative methods of supporting a flashlight, the methods remain inconvenient and given the choice, most flashlight users elect to use both hands to support the flashlight and document to be illuminated.
The options available for use of a flashlight to illuminate a document which must be held can be particularly disadvantageous in certain circumstances. For instance, a law enforcement officer may compromise his or her personal safety when attempting to read a document such as a motorist's driver's license at night. The officer must either use both hands to illuminate the license with the flashlight and thus have no free hand for use of their handgun, or else compromise their line of vision and/or ability to illuminate the license by holding the flashlight in one of the alternative methods described above. While flashlights with attachments for holding objects such as a doctor's tongue depressor (U.S. Pat. No. 3,900,924) have been developed, such devices are not designed to and can not hold documents in a manner so that they are illuminated and can be read by the user of the device.
Therefore there is a need for a means to enable a flashlight user to hold and illuminate a document while keeping at least one hand free.